Chose Jesus, love people

Joshua 24:14-15 (NASB) --- "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

We don't serve a God that tells us what to do.  He has not made us puppets to do what he wants.  God gave us a choice, we have a will and we can do what we want to do.  Yet many of us have seen, learned and experienced that our best choice is to go with God.  Following Him is not always simple and it is always right.

I have heard those verses all my life.  They hung on the wall of my parent's bedroom when I was growing up.  "Chose who you will serve."  God or someone else are the only choices.

As I listen in on Joshua's conversation, he reminds those listening that they can do other things, they can follower other paths, but they could also see where those other path's led by the experiences of those who already went those directions.  You either chose God with the big "g" or another type of god with a little "g".  But you can't go with both.  That is one of the biggest problems we face today.  We try to go both ways.  Following God some of the time and doing what we want other times.  That path leads to failure.

Who are you serving?  No, I didn't ask who you are being kind to and loving through doing nice things.  I asked who is your God?

My point is this: when we serve anything other than God and then try to serve people, we give a wrong message to those we come in contact with.  Are we serving people so we can feel good about ourselves?  Or are we serving because God has called us to serve?

Choose.  The God who changes lives or the little gods who just do nice things with stuff that doesn't last.  If we follow Jesus, we will do what He did:

John 12:26 (NASB) --- "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

If we do what we want to do, something else will be our fate:

Judges 10:13 (NASB) --- "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.

It is time for a reality check.  Who are you serving today?

My passion is to serve Jesus as I serve others so that those I get to help will see Jesus more than they see or feel or know anything else.  Why?  Because it is all about Jesus!